Zircon (satellite): Difference between revisions

'''Zircon''' was the [[codename]] for a British [[signals intelligence]] [[satellite]], designed to intercept radio and other signals from the USSR, Europe and other areas. It was intended to be launched in 1988 on a [[NASA]] [[Space Shuttle|space shuttle]]. However, beforethe beingproject was cancelled in 1987 because of its cost. Secrecy about the project's cost, hidden from the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|British Parliament]], resulted in the [[Zircon affair]].

During the [[Cold War]], Britain's [[GCHQ]] wasoften heavilyused reliantthe onUnited America'sStates [[National Security Agency]] (NSA) for communications interception from space. Concern heightened at the time of the 1982 [[Falklands War]]. GCHQ requested access to American Signals[[signals Intelligenceintelligence]] satellites to assist in monitoring Argentine Communicationscommunications, but reportedly struggled with the National Security AgencyNSA to gain appropriate tasking time, despite the [[Special Relationship|special relationship]] between the two countries. The United States satellites were engaged in monitoring SIGINT traffic elsewhere in South America related to [[El Salvador]].<ref>See Mark Urban (1997). [httphttps://www.fas.org/irp/eprint/alpha/zircon.htm UK Eyes Alpha: The Inside Story of British Intelligence (Chapter 5)]. Faber and Faber.</ref> GCHQ therefore decided to produce a UK-designed-and-built signals intelligence satellite, to be called Zircon, a code-name derived from [[Zirconzircon|zirconium silicate]], a diamond substitute. Its function was to intercept radio and other signals from the [[USSR]], [[Europe]] and other areas. The satellite was to be built at [[Marconi Space and Defence Systems]] at [[Portsmouth Airport, Hampshire|Portsmouth Airport]], at which a new high security building had been built. It was to be launched on a [[NASA]] [[Space Shuttle]] under the guise of "Skynet IV" one of the British [[Skynet_Skynet (satellite)|Skynet]] IVmilitary communications satellites. Launch on the Shuttle would have entitled a [[British nationality law|British national]] to fly as a [[payload specialist]] and a group of military pilots were presented to the press as candidates for '[[British astronauts|Britain's first man in space]]'.

Zircon was cancelled by Chancellor [[Nigel Lawson]] on grounds of its cost in 1987. However, [[Duncan Campbell (investigative journalist)|Duncan Campbell]], an investigative journalist working for ''[[New Statesman]]'' magazine, planned to make a BBC television programme about the project, part of a six-part series called ''Secret Society''. Campbell's thesis was that the cost of the satellite had been hidden from the British parliamentParliament, in particular the [[Public Accounts Committee. (United Kingdom)|Public Accounts Committee]].

==NotesSee also==

[[Category:Government Communications HeadquartersGCHQ]]